Home made Swash Follower / Driver

I'm building a 700 AS350 and the rotor head that came with it is Fubar!!
So I ordered a new Century Diamond 3 blade rotor but it doesn't come with the swash follower / driver, and the one they sell separately is pricey.
So I was racking my brain and looking through a lot of old parts when I came across a couple of 600 flybar washout blocks with the radius arms. They are for 10mm shaft. But I noticed that there was a brass sleeve in the center. Hummm! If I can remove the sleeve will it be 12mm? Yeaper, it sure is.

It was easy to modify, Knock out the sleeve, cut the flange off the washout block, cut the radius lever arm behind the bearing and round off the end.

You secure it to the shaft be putting a screw back in the screw hole that held the other radius arm lever and it will engage the shaft tightly. You need a shorter screw then what was there with the lever arm, or you can drill an tap the side of the block and use a set screw.

That's the way to do it! Awesome!

drive a rotary, fly a rotorcraft

Here's another valuable tip from a friend of mine and amazing scale modeler from England named Paul. His handle on SRCH is HerefordHeli.

He has an awesome process for weathering and it looks so realistic that it's hard to tell it's not real. I have copied and posted his thread with permission:
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I used a new product for me called 'Abteilung 502' in black and brown mixed with Odourless Turpentine to make a thin wash. This I applied liberally all over the model with a large brush (scary) and then wiped most of it off with a kitchen towel. I then went back and painted over all the panel lines/rivets with a thin brush to make them more defined. This is very similar to the technique I've used before but in the past I haven't done the scary part of putting the wash all over (which actually was no problem in practice) and with the turps you can effectively reactivate the Abteilung (which is much like artists oil paints) and remove it from areas you don't want it or where the panel lines are less than perfect on first attempt. It drys quickly and doesn't affect the acrylic based paint scheme. Its available in many different shades and I recommend it!

Abteilung 502 and Abteilung Odourless Turpentine

All helis and planes have an expiration date stamped on them...you only find it after you crash!!

I used Pencil Lead and Turp. then rubbed the area with a dry towel until you get effect you wanted. Your method might be easier to do .. I like it Barry ..

From Simple minds come simple ideas! Approach Engineering

like the idea OF "TIP OF THE WEEK". and, yes, i'm an old dog who can still learn a few new tricks. here's one I've used many times on airplanes as well. for some of the "high drag" items hanging on airframes, I've used construction paper soaked in ca. you can pre soak a sheet for flat panels or cut and bend to shape, then soak in ca. for really complex shapes, I've water soaked the parts to get those radical shapes done. once dried, soak them in ca. whats nice about this procedure, is that, it's cheap, easy to pre test a part for fit, can be sanded nicely with 320 grit, takes primer very well and you can make a lot of panels with just one or two sheets of paper.

Darth, that's a very cool idea, I'll have to give it a try some time!

So here's another scale tip while I'm in here: In a scale machine the tail servo is often hard to get to. So I've found that replacing the bracket hardware with allen screws makes the job easier when it comes time to remove the servo. You can get the wrench in by "feel". Also, putting the tail servo as far forward as you can, will help remove unwanted tail weight. (I wish this trick worked on ladies too)...Barry

All helis and planes have an expiration date stamped on them...you only find it after you crash!!

From Simple minds come simple ideas! Approach Engineering

OK my time to contribute...

I was looking for a good way to make rivets.. that would look the same and I found the answer in my buddy's build.

I use the little nail ornaments in the shape of the domes. I use 1mm and 2mm domes which correspond to the rivet size in 1/7 scale...
It is a tedious job and it is a "relaxing methond" but once done it looks like the real thing..

GH: Very cool tip! Thanks for contributing. We need to ruffle a few "old timer" feathers in here to contribute and keep the great info flowing! I've noticed the same questions get asked over and over and over again in the scale forum, so I opened this thread to help people who are just getting into scale...
Barry

All helis and planes have an expiration date stamped on them...you only find it after you crash!!

So another big thing with "rivets" is keeping a straight line and evenly spaced rivets. To achieve this I use a blue masking tape and I draw even intervals (5mm apart). This enables me to keep the lines straight even on the curves and to evenly space the rivets....

Cheeze guys, this is really a great thread.
I recently bought a $350 laser cutter for my clock making (but around $900 after upgrades to make it useful) and cutting plastics. Thought this would be great for making scale flat parts such as instrument panels out of plastics (or card stock, or thin wood, or balsa).
The attached picture shows some parts for a clock. The card stock (white) is a test for a coil form end piece. The smallest holes are 0.750 mm dia (.030 inches). Now when I do my scale model this cutter will get a lot of use.
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Anybody wanting a scale IP cutout, pm me and see if I could do it, no charge out of card stock, or if I have the plastic required on hand.

I think about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something, then wonder what I'm here after ?

I think about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something, then wonder what I'm here after ?

Ok, I have one that happened to me this weekend. The windscreen on my 500C got a little melted. It about blew off the table it was sitting on so, I tossed it in my chair not thinking it being in the sun and it melted a little bit. I swear I thought my stomach was going to turn.
I did the old foamy airplane trick and used a pot of almost boiling water. Set it in where the spot was to get it soft, and then worked it from the inside with my thumb/fingers. I got about 99% of it out. I think I can live with it rather than replacing it. Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of it.

Ron

I didn't crash. I just ran out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time!

Good trick Ron! Glad you got it sorted out.

Tip of the week: Bond your blind nuts in place. If you've ever had a blind nut pop out on you when you were trying to start a screw, then you haven't been in the RC hobby long enough I use a high quality adhesive like Hysol or BVM aeropoxy (same stuff)on all of my builds. Regular 5/30 minute hobbypoxy gets brittle over time and will probably fail on you... at the worst possible time.
Barry

All helis and planes have an expiration date stamped on them...you only find it after you crash!!

Roy Mayoral

Here's my "donation" to the thread...
We have all become frustrated when trying to remove "Allen head" screws with a wrench that has rounded off..?
My simple fix is to "dress" the tip on my belt sander.. it just takes a touch and you get nice "new" edges in that Allen wrench!
Also, along those lines... got a grub screw slightly rounded out? Take the Allen wrench that "almost" fits it, chuck it up in a vise, And heat it with a torch.(I use a small plumbers torch w/MAP gas)
Now tap it (squarely on the end) with a small (flat faced) hammer. This will "balloon " the tip and give you that little extra you need for a tight fit to remove that pesky fastener!!
Oh, and don't forget to throw the screw out when you do get it removed.....
Hint #3.. I paint the slightly oversized wrenches w/red paint...